Don Cherry had to go

 When I heard Don Cherry say what he said on Coach’s Corner Saturday night, my immediate though was of Ron MacLean, wondering, as a broadcaster on live TV, how he would handle it? It was unfortunate MacLean gave a nod or two and a thumbs up that many would interpret as agreement.  

The next day he apologized, calling Cherry’s comments hurtful, discriminatory, and flat out wrong. And then he added, “I sat there, did not catch it, did not respond.” 

Ron MacLean apologizing on Hometown Hockey for not responding appropriately to Don Cherry’s anti-immigrant comments the night before.

That may be true but I have to wonder if he wasn’t doing a quite calculation in his head and realized that if he did challenge Cherry, it’s all but a given Cherry would have simply doubled down, and the segment would have been far worse. 

Traditional and social media had been on fire over this story, with the right-wing Toronto Sun going so far as to accuse MacLean of throwing Cherry under the bus by not defending him.  

That’s nuts of course but it is consistent with how the sides on social media divided, many seeing this as a right-wing vs. left-wing thing, with those on the right defending Cherry’s comments. The rational they use varies from him being a victim of political correctness gone berserk, to simply being an old man with no filter, to this being the end of freedom of speech, as if freedom of speech came with no limitations. 

Those on the left see this has Cherry saying something racist, and not for the first time. 

I’m not insensitive to the age issue. At 85 many people do say what’s on their mind, with no filter. In many ways, I appreciate that. Many of us probably have that racist uncle who “says what he thinks” at Thanksgiving dinner, to family. But that’s one thing. It’s quite another to allow that guy to spew hatred on national television. 

As for those who say that’s just the way he talks, that may have made sense except if he didn’t mean immigrants when he said “you people” who come to this country because you “like the milk and honey”, he could have clarified it later but rather he told the Toronto Sun he meant what he said. So, by his own admission, he is spreading the false narrative that immigrants have no appreciation for veterans. 

Ron and Don doing Coach’s Corner Saturday night. Photo credit: Global News

A couple of thoughts on that. Many of the immigrants I know came from war zones and are extremely appreciative for the safe haven Canada provides, because they know how precious that is, and how Canadian veterans have sacrificed to make it so. For Cherry to suggest otherwise, as he has, is nothing short of a racist comment. And for that, he should have been let go.  

As for those who say he was simply supporting veterans, I would say that while he deserves credit for that, supporting veterans doesn’t mean he should get a free pass to malign immigrants with a racist rant. 

Photo credit: Global News

It’s not as if he hasn’t gone there before, whether it is the silliness of criticizing European and French Canadian hockey players for wearing face shields implying they aren’t tough enough for hockey, his sexism of saying female reporters should not be allowed in the dressing rooms, his arrogance of calling Canadians who didn’t want our country to join the Iraq war “left wing pinkos”, or the more substantial saying Sikhs should have to remove their turbans if they want to attend or join the legion. 

This is a case of the game of hockey and Canadian society (most of it anyway) evolving and Cherry not changing but rather being stuck in the past, and refusing to understand that times have changed and what may have been acceptable years ago no longer is.   

The sad truth of the matter is that Cherry is a clown who dresses funny and hasn’t been relevant as a hockey commentator in many years. True hockey fans know this. The league, and Canada for that matter, can do much better. I doubt there will be a Coach’s Corner without Cherry, but with a little imagination a replacement segment can be found, hopefully with Ron MacLean as a key part of it. Unlike Cherry, MacLean has proven he does have something solid to offer.

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